How Kitale-based journalists marked Press Freedom Day

"Journalism Under Digital Siege"

Mike Musungu 1 year ago 2 min read

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The international celebration is meant to observe the freedom of journalists in their daily activities.

Kitale-based journalists marked World Press Freedom Day through a peaceful procession within the town.

Scribes drawn from different media houses assembled at the Kenya News Agency (KNA) in the morning to mark the special day celebrated every May 3rd.

Speaking after the peaceful procession, Caren Lumbasi of TNW Online TV mentioned harassment of journalists in the field as some of the challenges that hinder objective reporting.

“Journalists are friends, not enemies. If politician “A” needs coverage from us, we will come and provide coverage for him or her, and if politician “B” also needs coverage, we will do it, so don’t mistreat us during this electioneering period. We are servants and we report exactly as per the source,’’ she said.

She further challenged the government to introduce a commission with responsibilities to monitor journalists’ welfare, including regulating their pay.

An official from the Kenya Correspondent Association (KCA), Bernard Kwalia, challenged the government to stick to Articles 33 and 34 of the 2010 Kenyan Constitution on freedom of the media and allow journalists to access the information they need from the public offices for public consumption.

Kwalia said journalists are professionals and should not be victims of assault or harassment.

“I remember an incident in March where journalists from the Standard and The Star were assaulted at the ODM headquarters during a press briefing. We don’t want to go that direction, in case of anything engage the said journalist in a sober manner,’’ he said.

Kwalia also reminded journalists to be factual in their reporting to avoid confrontations with news sources.

World Press Freedom Day was set by the United Nations through their Assembly to be observed on May 3rd every year.

This year’s theme of the celebrations is “Journalism Under Digital Siege,” meant to highlight ways in which surveillance and digitally mediated attacks endanger journalists and journalism.

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The Western Kenya Times joins the world in celebrating fearless journalists who don’t stop until a story is in whole. We also recognize the effort of all journalists in providing information that makes society better.